A 56-year-old woman died overnight after falling into an open manhole when she stepped out of her vehicle in Midtown Manhattan, one of New Yorkers\u2019 greatest fears.<\/p>\n
The victim, Donike Gocaj, of Briarcliff Manor in Westchester County, had parked her S.U.V. at the corner of East 52nd Street and Fifth Avenue late Monday, the police said. When she stepped out, she plunged 10 feet into an uncovered utility hole in front of the Cartier Mansion.<\/p>\n
The police responded to a 911 call from the location at 11:19 p.m. and found Ms. Gocaj unconscious and unresponsive. An ambulance took her to NewYork-Presbyterian\/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.<\/p>\n
Relatives of Ms. Gocaj could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Among those she left behind are a daughter, a son and two young grandsons.<\/p>\n
On Facebook, Ms. Gocaj, who also spelled her name as Donika, was a doting figure. She often posted special milestones with her family \u2014 birthdays, baby showers, weddings and first communions \u2014 whom she traveled as far as Australia to visit.<\/p>\n
Con Edison replaced the manhole cover early on Tuesday. However, it remained unclear why it had been open in the first place. Allan Drury, a spokesman for Con Edison, said the utility company was investigating.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur thoughts are with the individual\u2019s family, and safety remains our top priority,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Con Edison has manhole covers over its vast underground network, which includes 266,000 manholes, service boxes and vaults across New York City and its suburbs. Dozens of the covers went missing in 2012<\/a>, in what officials suspected was a spate of thefts.<\/p>\n The police said there were no arrests on Tuesday in connection with Ms. Gocaj\u2019s death. There were no passengers in her vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz, and she was alone when she fell, according to the police.<\/p>\n The city medical examiner\u2019s office said it was investigating what caused Ms. Gocaj\u2019s death. A determination was not expected on Tuesday, the office\u2019s spokeswoman said.<\/p>\n Missing manhole covers are a common problem in New York City. The Department of Environmental Protection, which is responsible for manholes connected to the sewer system, has fielded more than 700 service requests so far this year, according to the city\u2019s 311 call data.<\/p>\n Ms. Gocaj\u2019s death recalled that of a homeless man who was found dead in a manhole<\/a> in 2019 two weeks after he stumbled into it.<\/p>\n Falling into an open manhole is one of the many urban nightmares New Yorkers worry about, along with falling through grates on the street, getting pushed onto the subway tracks and getting hit by a falling air-conditioner, among others.<\/p>\n Last year, a woman died after a garbage truck crash caused scaffolding to collapse on her<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2020, a 33-year-old man fell into an underground vault of rats<\/a> when the sidewalk collapsed beneath him, though he survived.<\/p>\n